


Bathing in Eternity

by Madifishy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adrenaline, Angst, Bad Jokes, Banter, Blood, Danger, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Roller Coaster, Explicit Language, Female pronouns for Pidge, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Leadership, Maybe fluff, Scars, Secrets, Self Confidence Issues, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Suffering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-21
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-04-05 10:14:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14042025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madifishy/pseuds/Madifishy
Summary: Most of this is Shiro coming to terms with who he is, and struggling to overcome his self consciousness. May or may not have character pairings later on (I'm undecided). Lots and lots of banter between Keith and Lance for those of you out there who would die to read some Klance trash.Again, I love the feedback, and a lot of my later chapters will be based off of the feedback that this gets, so don't be shy!Thanks for reading and supporting my work!





	1. Shiro

**Author's Note:**

> I've been gone from AO3 for quite a long time. I typed up a story about a month ago, and I swear I saved it, but now it's nowhere to be found. Needless to say that made me pretty angry, and I took some time away from the keyboard. I'm back now though, and I'm glad to be posting again. 
> 
> I could really use the feedback, so leave a comment telling me your thoughts, or just leave a kudos to let me know that you like this.
> 
> It's good to be back my dudes <3

Shiro ducked to the side behind the metal wall just as a bullet whizzed through the air where his head had just been. "Pidge!" he shouted into the intercom device on his wrist. "Are you almost done downloading the information we need from the Galra servers?"  
  
A bullet tore through the thin metal wall behind him, just barely missing his Galra arm. He clenched his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as Pidge's voice responded through the intercom. "Almost there, Shiro! Hold them off for two minutes more!"

 

Shiro groaned and formed a fist with his left hand, the galra metal heating up and glowing a brilliant shade of purple. It  _had_ been his idea to infiltrate this Galra base to obtain the information they needed. With Lotor now in the picture, and Zarkon and Haggar plotting against the paladins, the team needed some new information to work off of in order to be a step ahead of the Galra. Shiro lunged out from behind the wall, the force of his galra fist driving him around the corner as the hot metal collided with the chest armour of one of the Galra soldiers. He felt the metal crush and contour, the soldier falling backward to the floor, He raised his fist quickly, catching another soldier in the chin before he took off down the hall. His footsteps pounded loudly, the Galra footsteps echoing twice as loud behind him. He panted heavily, sweat beads dripping down the dark scar across his face. 

 

It would take too much energy to fight them all off, energy he didn't have to spare. Letting them chase him would be easier. After all, the Galra had no way to know that the other paladins were here as well. As far as they knew, it was just Shiro.

 

As if the universe had read Shiro's thoughts, a loud siren wailed out, causing him to look up wide-eyed in confusion. His gait didn't falter, but fear tore through him, causing his blood to run cold.

 

"Attention!", a deep, female voice announced over the speakers. "The paladins of Voltron have infiltrated the barracks and have been discovered in the server room. All personnel must report to the server room  _immediately_ to deal with this threat. I repeat, all personnel must report to the server room  _immediately_ to stop the paladins!"

 

_Oh no._

 

Shiro skidded to a halt and made a sharp left turn, effortlessly turning down a different hall and heading straight for the server room. "Pidge, Hunk, get out of there!", Shiro shouted into his intercom device as he struggled to maintain his composure. Even though, on the inside, all he could feel was fear, he had to stay brave for the other paladins. His mouth was dry as he breathed loudly and turned another corner, the server room door coming into view. Galra soldiers poured into the door and Shiro picked up speed, angling his shoulders down and pushing through the soldiers, forcing his way into the room. 

 

He heard Pidge's fearful shout and looked up in time to see Pidge dive out of the way of one of the Galra as another snagged her by the arm. Hunk thrust his bayard at the soldier, forcing him to release his grip on Pidge's elbow. "Shiro!", Hunk shouted, looking up and making eye contact with the black paladin through the crowd of Galra. Shiro scanned the room wildly, searching for any other exit. Pidge and Hunk had entered through the vents, but there was no way that the three of them could exit through the vents quickly enough to escape the Galra soldiers. There was only one door leading into this server room, which meant that it was their only way out. 

 

Shiro's arm tore through the air, the purple glowing force knocking several Galra to the ground, opening up a path for the other two paladins to escape through. "Come on! We're leaving!", Shiro belted out as he spun on his heels and bolted out through the door. He heard Hunk and Pidge's laboured breaths behind him, and the angered shouts of the Galra behind them. Shiro had paid close attention coming into this base, and easily recalled how to retrace his steps in order to get himself, and the other two paladins, out safely. As they neared the exit, Shiro lifted his arm, activating the intercom device. "Lance? We're going to need our escort any second now!"

 

"Already on it, Shiro!", Lance's voice responded confidently.

 

"Lance, there's a Galra fighter coming up behind your lion!" Keith's voice announced loudly, his voice also coming through the intercom.

 

"Yeah, I know, I'm not  _blind_ , Keith", Lance responded matter-of-factly.

 

Shiro rolled his eyes. Even during a mission where all of their lives were in danger, Lance and Keith couldn't get along.  _Oh well_ , he thought to himself. As long as the both of them were just outside the front gates in their lions, the mission would be completed according to planned. 

 

Shiro was ripped from his thoughts as there was a shriek of tearing metal behind him, followed by a scream. Shiro looked back over his shoulder and saw Pidge pinned to the ground by a metal pipe which was pouring hot steam from one end. There was a huge hole in the wall through which this pipe had broken through, pinning the youngest paladin down. Hunk dropped to the ground and began lifting the pipe off of his friend, and Shiro dropped to his knees to help. 

 

Shiro's attention flicked between Pidge trapped under the metal pipe, and the Galra forces charging straight toward them, the hallway flooding with soldiers. Shiro grunted as he forced the pipe up off of Pidge and hauled her into his arms. He grabbed Hunk by the crook of his arm and took off down the hall, making a bee-line for the exit. His breaths were hot and loud as he forced his body to move faster towards the exit. Shiro squinted his eyes shut and angled his shoulder down, his body crashing through the closed door. 

 

The strange red sunlight of this planet glowed into his eyes as he dashed out into the open, free of the building. His neck snapped up as his eyes tore through the sky, searching for either the red or blue lion.  _Come on you two, where are you_?

 

He whirled around and watched helplessly as Galra flooded out of the hole that he had just made in the door. There were too many of them. He couldn't fight all of them off. His eyes darted frantically around as he searched for any other way to run. Any other exit. Any way to escape.  _There wasn't one._

 

The ground trembled tumultously as the blue lion landed, dropping its head to the ground, opening its mouth to the three paladins on the ground. "Need a ride?", Lance's voice came nonchalantly over the intercom. As Shiro ran into the lion with Pidge still in his arms, he looked up just in time to see the red lion hovering above the base, waiting for the other paladins to board so that they could all make their getaway. The second Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk were inside the lion, they all fell to the floor from the force of the lion taking off. Shiro braced one arm against the wall for support as the pressure of the lion gaining altitude pressed against his back. Hunk lay on the ground on his back staring up at the ceiling, a mixture of fear and relief evident on his face.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, there was a loud sound that signaled that the blue lion had left the atmosphere of this planet, followed by the same sound again, but more distant, as the red lion also fled the planet. Shiro breathed a sigh of relief and stood, heading to the paladin's control cabin where Lance was. Pidge stood and gave Shiro an appreciative smile for having saved her. The three of them headed up to the control cabin and were greeted by Lance swiveling around in his chair to face them and grinning cockily. "Well?", he prompted, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for praise.

 

"Great job Lance. I had my doubts for a second, but you came through in the end."

 

Lance's grin grew even wider, and Shiro could envision Keith rolling his eyes right now as he listened to the blue paladin bask in the positive feedback he was receiving. "The whole team did great. I'm proud of all of you."

 

Lance swiveled his chair back around and returned his hands to the controls, and Pidge and Keith seated themselves in the chairs in the back of the cabin. Shiro leaned against the wall, resting his full weight against it, allowing his eyes to drift shut and feeling a cascading wave of relief wash over him. This had been a close call, but everyone had gotten out safely. 

 

 _Everyone had gotten out safely_.

 

The sentence replayed over and over in his mind like a broken record and, as if commanded by irony, a sharp pain shredded through the black paladin's abdomen, and he stifled a gasp. The other three paladin's heads snapped around at the distressed groan, and they watched as Shiro slid down the wall into a sitting position, clutching his side. Lance hurriedly stood and crossed the room, dropping to his knees next to Shiro. Pidge and Hunk followed suit almost immediately, all of their expressions giving off their concern. Shiro grimaced in pain as he pulled his hands away from his abdomen, revealing a tear in his black flight suit. Through the tear all that could be seen was mangled flesh, soaked red with blood. "Lance reached up and slammed a button on the control console down, transmitting his voice across the intercom. "Shiro needs help! He's injured!"

 

"Injured? How?", Keith's voice responded.

 

"I-I don't know, I think he's been shot!', Lance shouted back. "Tell Allura to have the med-bay ready and to be ready to help him!"

 

Shiro's vision blurred at the edges as his body was ravaged by pain. He hadn't felt the pain before. Was it the adrenaline? Probably. He battled with himself to keep his eyes open, but he was losing badly. The last thing he heard before his mind went black was Lance's voice.

 

"Hang in there, buddy. It's going to be okay."


	2. Allura

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiro wakes up and Allura checks over him to determine how severe his inury is. Shiro is self conscious about his scars
> 
> Okay so fair warning, there is "almost nudity" in this chapter, but not in any sort of sexual way, I promise. You'll see what I mean when you read it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always kind of imagine that Shiro puts on this "I'm a leader and I am fearless and confident" front whenever he's with the other paladins, when in reality he is actually very self conscious, especially about all of his scars. He tries to hide his lack of confidence from others, but every now and then someone will catch a glimpse of his insecurities.
> 
> Anyway, leave me comments to read and kudos to enjoy! Thank you!

Shiro phased in and out of consciousness as Hunk and Lance hauled his limp body out of the blue lion and towards the castle ship's infirmary. His left arm had been thrown over Hunk's shoulder, his right over Lance's, and Pidge and Keith hurried along behind them. Shiro struggled to get his feet to work, tried to walk so that all of his weight wasn't resting on Lance and Hunk's shoulders, but his feet failed him, shuffling uselessly, unable to support his weight. He caught glimpses of the castle walls, but was not in a conscious enough state to calculate how long he had been out for. His lips attempted to form words, but his mouth refused to allow any sounds to be made, so Shiro just clenched his jaw instead. 

 

He let out a pained gasp when he was brought into the infirmary and laid on a table. The cold table sent chills through his already freezing body, and he shivered slightly. Lance muttered an apology at Shiro's pained noise, and Hunk did the same. All of the paladins looked concerned for their leader as they crowded around him.

 

"Everybody out! I need space!", Allura shouted, forcing the other paladins out of the infirmary and pressing her palm to the door panel scanner, causing it to close with a quiet whoosh. She swirled around and headed over to the medical shelves, adjacent to the table that Shiro was on, he forced himself to sit up, huffing as the constant pain increased in intensity. "It would probably be best if you laid down", Allura noted. Her voice was gentle now, a stark contrast to the strict voice that she had just used moments earlier. "Until I get a look at the wound, we can't have you moving around too much." She shuffled supplies around on the shelves before approaching the table with a medical cart carefully stacked with Altean medical equipment, none of which resembled any medical equipment that Shiro had seen back on Earth. 

 

"Where is the injury?" Allura asked softly, her eyes looking up to meet Shiro's. Her eyes were a breathtaking blue that sparkled in the strong lights of the infirmary. Allura's eyes had never ceased to baffle Shiro; they were so expressive. They were able to show embarassment when she misspoke, anger when she felt betrayed, and happiness when something went the way she wanted it to. She had the most telling eyes of anyone Shiro had ever met. 

 

Shiro stretched his torso, looking down at himself, pressing his fingers to the wound, tugging at the torn onyx fabric of his flight suit. Allura took his wrist in her slender fingers and pulled it away, leaning in to inspect the injury. "I think Lance was correct in assuming that this is a wound from a bullet. But I'd need a clearer view of the entrance wound in order to know for sure." She released Shiro's wrist and took a step back before adding "perhaps you could remove your flight suit so that I could get a better look at the injury?"

 

Shiro's mind suddenly kicked into high gear and started processing at a thousand miles an hour. Take off his flight suit? Shiro coughed awkwardly, taken aback. "I'm sorry, what?"

 

"In order to know how severe the wound is and how to treat it, I need to be able to see it", Allura responded.

 

Shiro scanned the room before fidgeting slightly. "You couldn't treat the wound with the flight suit on?"

 

Allura put her hands on her hips and made a face. "Shiro, I  _need_ to see the injury. Just remove the flight suit. I can turn around while you undress if you want."

 

"No, no that's not the issue-"

 

"Then what  _is_ the issue?", Allura retorted, clearly irritated. At first Shiro was speechless in response to her sudden annoyance with him. But he was able to rationalize her annoyance when he realized that she just wanted to help him, and he wasn't willing to do what was needed in order for him to be helped. Shiro closed his eyes and exhaled deeply, taking a moment before standing up from the table. He slid off of the counter, his boots hitting the ground with a quiet thud. He began removing the pieces of white armour, setting them on the medical cart. Allura tapped her foot impatiently as she watched the black paladin remove his armour. When he finished removing the white armour, he paused, his eyes looking up to meet Allura's. Allura let out an exasperated sigh and spun around so that her back faced him. "Really Shiro, you're being quite childish. I'm not here to ogle over your body, I'm here to help you. There's no need to be embarassed; it's nothing I haven't seen before."

 

As Allura rambled about Shiro's behaviour, he brought his fingers up to the zipper of the flight suit that was flush against the back of his neck. He let out a slow breath as he pulled the zipper down, the suit coming off with it. He felt his confidence diminish with every inch of his skin that was exposed. He pulled his arms out of the suit and tugged his legs out of it, leaving him standing nearly bare in just his black briefs. He carefully folded the black suit and set it on the table next to all of his armour. He pulled in a shaky breath.  _This was necessary. Medical attention is more important than dignity_. 

 

"Are you nearly finished?", Allura prompted.

 

"Yeah, I'm done", Shiro answered.

 

Allura huffed dramatically and turned around. "You've been undressing for decathebes. I've never heard of a paladin taking so long to-", her sentence was interjected by a gasp and Allura unconsciously brought a hand up to cover her mouth as her eyes went wide.

 

Before her stood the black paladin as she had never seen him. His skin was littered with long scars of varying shades of red and brown. Patches of his skin were bizarrely textured from having not healed properly. The flesh where his upper arm met his Galra arm was a mangled mess of discoloured skin and flesh. His arms and legs were covered in various scratches that Allura could only assume must be permanent. When her eyes returned to Shiro's, his eyes registered an expression she'd never seen on the black paladin before: shame. 

 

She quickly forced her hand back down to her side, realizing that it must have been incredibly rude for her to gasp at his figure. But the damage had already been done, she could tell by the look he gave her. Allura tried to play it off, told him to sit on the counter while she examined the wound, and she struggled to ignore all the scars on his torso while she removed the bullet and cleaned and bandaged the wound. Hurt seared through her as Shiro watched her, and she could feel from his gaze that her reaction to his body had taken a serious emotional toll on him. She felt terrible about having pressured him to remove the flight suit, only to have her gawk at his scarred body. 

 

She finished bandaging the wound and took a step back. Her eyes lingered on one particular scar on his lower stomach before she snapped out of her trance and looked back up at the black paladin's face. His jaw was clenched and his pupils were blown wide with hurt. Allura felt a strong pang of guilt surge through her. "Remember to remove the bandages and clean the wound at least once daily before applying new bandages."

 

Shiro nodded silently as he redressed, covering up the scars that Allura had been so taken aback by. He watched the ground, unwilling to meet Allura's eyes again. He turned to leave and Allura stopped him.

 

"Shiro, wait."

 

He stopped walking, but didn't turn to face her.

 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to react the way I did. I just didn't expect-"

 

"It's fine", Shiro interjected. He approached the doors which glided silently open for him, and glided shut after he had left. Allura took a seat in one of the chairs in the room and allowed her head to fall into her hands. She hadn't meant to upset him. That hadn't been her intention at all.

 

_The last thing she wanted was to hurt him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this chapter is short compared to the first one. I felt like it required a lot less words to get my point across in this chapter than in the previous one.


	3. Keith

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith sees Shiro's scars for the first time, and his response isn't what Shiro had been expecting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because everybody needs at least a little bit of positive Keith in their life

Keith stifled a yawn as Pidge rambled on to him about why it was important that the SA magnitude was properly balanced when utilizing the spires of the castle as satellites. As much as he tried to feign interest in all the technical jargon that Pidge tossed his way, he wondered if she truly believed that he was interested. Sometimes, what she had to say could be interesting, but this wasn't one of those times.

 

"Pidge, as interesting as all of this is, I had been heading to the bathroom to brush my teeth", Keith interrupted, and Pidge looked up from a set of blueprints, wide-eyed. Sure enough, Keith had a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush in one of his hands.

 

"Oh, yeah, sure", Pidge responded nonchalantly, returning her attention to the mess of coordinates and measurements on the paper in front of her. "Don't let me hold you up." She waved him away and pushed her glasses up her nose, as they had slid down while she had been talking.

 

Keith turned away and mentally sighed in relief as he strode off down the hall towards one of castle ship's many bathrooms. His feet were light as he walked, and his footsteps were almost silent. Silent, that is, until Lance turned the corner and bumped foreheads with Keith, knocking both of the boys back onto the ground. Keith's toothbrush skittered across the floor away from him, and he groaned, pressing a palm to his forehead that was now blooming with fresh pain. Lance dropped the several rolls of blueprints he had been carrying in his arms, and they rolled away in all directions.

 

"What the quiznak, Keith?", Lance shouted, his brows knitting together in frustration.

 

"Me? You're the one that ran into me", Keith retorted, pushing himself up and snatching his toothbrush up from where it had landed on the floor.

 

"I didn't do anything!", Lance whined, reaching around and gathering up all the blueprints that had been scattered across the cold, metal floor. "I was just bringing these blueprints to Pidge, and you walked right into me!"

 

"Maybe you should watch where you're going", Keith hissed, taking an angry step towards the blue paladin. He was practically seething. He couldn't believe Lance had the audacity to run him, and then refuse to take the blame for it. He couldn't  _stand_ the other paladin when he did things like this. Sure, Keith could tolerate him when he had to. When they were training or when they were on a mission, Lance was a lot easier to put up with. Heck, they were practically friends when it came to those types of situations. But right now, Keith wanted nothing more than to strangle him.

 

Lance, still on hands and knees gathering up the scattered scrolls, looked up at Keith and crinkled his nose in disgust. "Why do you have to be so rude about everything. It's no wonder that you're such a loner. I don't know  _why_ anyone would  _want_ to hang out with you."

 

Keith ignored him, walking off down the hall, struggling to maintain his composure, which was already cracking at the edges. As much as he tried to keep his anger under control, his temper frequently got the best of him, resulting in furious outbursts. He often yelled at people when he didn't mean to, and got irritated when people couldn't see things from his perspective. 

 

He forced his angry thoughts from his mind as he approached the bathroom, the Altean door gliding open before him. Keith felt his eyes widen ever so slightly as he saw the scene before him in the bathroom.

 

Shiro sat on the counter next to the sink, his shirt folded neatly beside him. He was tugging at the edges of the bloodied bandage on his lower abdomen, which was no doubt covering the nasty injury he had obtained just a few days earlier on their mission to infiltrate one of the Galra bases. Keith had mentally cursed Shiro for allowing himself to get injured but, after a long period of thought, Keith began to understand why he had allowed it to happen. Shiro valued his team mates over himself, and would go to any measures necessary to protect his team, even if it meant taking a bullet for them. 

 

Shiro's head lifted when Keith walked in, and Keith could see the fear in his eyes.  _Fear? What did he have to be afraid of._

 

"Keith, I didn't expect to see you here", Shiro spoke, the deep timbre in his voice echoing throughout the medium sized room.

 

"Yeah, well, I needed to brush my teeth", Keith responded, walking up to the sink next to where Shiro was sitting and wetting his toothbrush.

 

"I didn't think anybody came to this bathroom. There are at least a hundred other bathrooms on the ship", Shiro said, still watching Keith closely. His voice was radiating a tone that Keith had never heard from the black paladin before.

 

Keith set his toothbrush on the edge of the sink and looked up at the older paladin. Shiro wrapped an arm around his body protectively, and it was then that Keith realized why Shiro was behaving so strangely. His torso and arms were littered with scars of varying length and in various stages of healing. Shiro's irises were wide with concern, and his gaze looked unsteady but didn't falter.

 

Keith spoke slowly, trying to use his words correctly so as not to offended the man before him. "Shiro, you don't need to be ashamed of your scars." Keith's gaze was soft and genuine, something that was quite unusual for the red palain.

 

Shiro's eyes got a little wider when Keith spoke, and his eyes darted between his scarred body and Keith. "I'm not ashamed. I just- I don't-"

 

"Shiro."

 

Shiro closed his mouth and looked down at the floor, unwilling to make eye contact. Keith had never seen Shiro act like this. He was a self-conscious, unsteady mess. Seeing him like this caused Keith's stomach to do a flip. Shiro looked so small, so unsure, so scared. This was the most vulnerable Keith had ever seen his leader. He had never even once imagined Shiro to ever be someone who could be so vulnerable, and yet, here he was. Sitting on the counter, his arms wrapped around himself to shield his body from the younger paladin.

 

"Your scars are a part of you. They don't make me think any lesser of you. If anything, they make me think more highly of you. They show that you were willing to suffer, and were willing to sacrifice yourself in order to keep going. They show that you could endure what was handed to you, even if it wasn't something you ever imagined you'd have to deal with. Your scars tell your past and they make you who you are now."

 

Shiro looked up at Keith, lowering his arm unsurely, revealing the scars on his abdomen. Keith saw his throat bob as he swallowed nervously.

 

"Shiro, scars are not something you need to be ashamed of. They don't make me think any differently of you, and I'm sure the rest of the paladins would agree. Your physical appearance doesn't change how you are as a leader, so don't let it control you."

 

Shiro smiled softly, and Keith smiled back. "Thank you, Keith. It means a lot to me that you can say that."

 

Keith shrugged, picking up his tube of toothpaste and squeezing some of it out onto the bristles of his toothbrush. "I'm just telling you how I feel. And, if we're being completely honest, I think the scars are kind of badass."

 

Shiro chuckled, a genuine, happy chuckle, and he looked down at his Galra arm, closing and opening the fingers, watching the sleek metal move.

 

"Yeah, I guess they kinda are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the dialogue in this chapter felt cheesy. I'm not the greatest at writing drama (but I'm working on it).


	4. Pidge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge runs some tests on Shiro's Galra arm, and sees his scars for the first time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I write angsty stories, not chapter summaries

One of Pidge's small hands gripped Shiro's wrist, practically dragging him across the lab to a large, complicated looking machine. Her fingers and hands were compact and almost dainty, probably not even half the size of his own. She released his hand and her excited eyes stared eagerly up at him. 

 

They stood together in the large expanse of the castle ship's lab, which was absolutely pristine. Despite the space feeling barren to Shiro, it was filled to the brim with incredibly advanced Altean technology and machinery. The quiet whirring of the machines around them  _almost_ droned out the constant buzz of the ship itself. The machine Pidge had led him to, upon first inspection, appeared to be a lot like the other machines in the lab. It was mostly white in colour, with a handful of lights that emanated a gentle blue glow. It differed from the others in that there was a large robotic protrusion from the front of the machine. Pidge pressed a few buttons on the console and this robotic arm split into two, a blue holographic screen appearing between the two metal rods. 

 

Pidge returned her attention to Shiro, releasing her grip on his arm. He rubbed his wrist and grimaced jokingly. "You've got one heck of a grip, Pidge."

 

She grinned at that, and her gaze turned to the console before them as she adjusted her glasses. She placed her hand on the front of the machine and closed her eyes. As if reading her mind, the technology whirred quietly and a screen appeared underneath her hand. She opened her eyes, and text began to appear in long, thin lines on the new monitor. Shiro took a step closer and leaned in, trying to catch a glimpse of what the text on the screen said, but was taken aback by the fact that the language on the screen was not one he was familiar with. The character's were unlike any he had ever seen back on earth, meaning they were almost definitely an Altean dialect. Despite this, Pidge's eyes skimmed back and forth over the characters before she whirled on her heels to face Shiro. She reached for his Galra arm but stopped, looking up at him again.

 

"You're sure it's alright if I run a few tests?"

 

Her face was sincere, her intents purely scientific. Shiro's attention turned towards his arm. He flexed the fingers of his robotic arm, clenching and unclenching his fist. He felt a tightness in his stomach whenever he stopped to really look at his arm. When he had first discovered his arm had been removed and replaced with. . . _this_ , he had been devastated. The Galra, the race he had tried so hard to escape from, the race that was responsible for  _torturing_ him and thousands of others, was now a part of him. The discoloration of his hair was one thing. The scars were something he hated, but was forced to live with. As much as a part of him as the arm was, he had despised it for a long time. All of the features of himself that made him unique were traits inflicted upon him by the Galra.

 

His eyes traveled back up to Pidge, and he nodded. She nodded back, looking to the machine and tapping a few areas of the monitor. The monitor glowed a soft purple, and the machine started whirring out of time with the rest of the machinery in the room. Pidge slid her fingers along the interface, and the robotic arms of the machine leaned out, now serving as a transparent barrier between the green and black paladins. Pidge angled the arms so that the blue screen between them was facing downward, horizontally rather than vertically, and she outstretched the holographic screen so that it was positioned over the Galra arm. The blue glow grew brighter as the technology analyzed the Galra forearm. Pidge watched closely as several blips appeared on the hologram, spiels of text next to each mark. 

 

"Well?", Shiro prompted.

 

"This is amazing", Pidge breathed quietly, her focus trained on the walls of text now on the holographic screen. "Somehow, the arm is drawing power from a source other than you, but you are still able to directly control the arm despite having no real power over it. Her eyes darted around all areas of the screen and she reached out, adjusting the screen higher. The program began to frantically scan the upper arm, again marking several blips and leaving several more lines of text. 

 

"The upper and lower arm are both able to take commands from your brain without being directly connected to your brain. I wonder if the nerve endings in your torso are connected to the wiring in the arm? Or maybe its connected in a more wireless sense, and it tracks your brain waves instead?"

 

Pidge shifted the screen higher still, now training it on Shiro's upper arm, shoulder, and chest. The screen's blue glow dimmed, and the text that popped up on the screen must clearly not have been what Pidge was wanting, based on the way her expression fell. "Interesting. It's identifying the fibers in your shirt rather than the components of the upper arm." 

 

She turned to face the console again and her eyes skimmed the information on the screen. "I think if you removed the shirt, the system would be able to tell me, or show me, how it is that this arm is connected to you." She looked at the other paladin over her shoulder.

 

He clenched his jaw, his forehead wrinkling ever so slightly in thought. His gaze turned downward, his expression difficult to read, but Pidge immediately picked up on his hesitation. "I don't want to force you to do anything, Shiro. If you'd rather not take your shirt off, that's fine by me. As much as I'd love to know so much more about how this arm works, I would never want to push you to do something that you aren't comfortable with."

 

The words tugged at Shiro's heart ever so slightly. This girl, practically a child compared to himself, was so compassionate and so caring despite her desire to learn more about something she was (clearly) very interested in. She would rather put Shiro's comfort before her own desire to attain more knowledge about technology that could be potentially groundbreaking.

 

"I'll do it", Shiro responded simply. 

 

Pidge's eyes lit up. "Really? Wow, I can't wait to see how to artificial neurons in the arm are transmitting feedback to the transmitters in the brain. Is the arm connected to the neurotransmitters too? Or maybe it's connections are solely for the purpose of movement and are therefore simpler than what I'm thinking-"

 

Shiro crossed his arms and his lips curled into a bit of a smile. She was so smart; so much smarter than most people gave her credit for. While Pidge was rambling about concepts that Shiro couldn't even begin to comprehend, he leaned forward and uncrossed his arms, reaching back over his head, clutching the fabric of his shirt, pulling it over his torso and off of his body. His skin prickled in the chilly air of the lab, and suddenly he felt exposed. He winced mentally as he returned his attention to Pidge to gauge her reaction to his grossly scarred body. He was surprised to find that Pidge's attention was still focused on her wild theories about his arm, and she was still ranting, having not even realized what had happened. Her eyes were trained somewhere upward as she spouted thoughts aloud to  herself. She continued theorizing as she recalibrated the hologram to scan the now completely visible upper section of Shiro's body. 

 

Halfway through the scan, Pidge's voice faltered off, her thoughts left dangling helplessly in the air. She leaned into the hologram and brushed her fingers over a bright purple stripe on the blue screen. She squinted at the anomaly, as if willing it to disappear. "I don't-", her statement was interrupted as several more of these purple strips appeared all over the shoulder and torso section of the hologram. She used a flat palm to push the hologram over to Shiro's other arm, which the hologram was also showing as being littered by the purple anomalies. Pidge pressed her index finger to the side of the console, causing the hologram to vanish and the two robotic limbs of the console to retract. 

 

Pidge's eyes widened slightly as she realized that these weren't glitches in the system at all. The system had been identifying exactly what it saw-- hundreds of scars. Her attention darted all over Shiro's exposed torso, taking in the dozens upon dozens of off coloured brown and purple slashes. After what seemed like an eternity of her staring at him, Pidge looked him in the eyes, and the man before her looked hurt. As a child, her father had told her that the notion that you could see a person's emotions in their eyes was foolish, and that much of their emotion was hidden in their other facial expressions. But in this moment, all Pidge could see in Shiro's eyes was hurt and shame.

 

She placed a hand on his robotic arm. "Shiro, did. . .did the Galra do this to you? All these scars?"

 

He nodded, opting not to speak out loud. She reached up with a slender finger and traced one of the scars that was part of the mangled mess of flesh where the Galra arm had been connected to his shoulder. The raised mark under her finger caused her skin to prickle. The mere though of someone willing to inflict pain like this upon another living being was enough to upset her. How could anyone live with themselves after hurting someone like this?

 

She met Shiro's eyes. "I can't believe they did this to you."

 

Again, Shiro nodded. Pidge could tell that he was ashamed of these marks but, why should someone be ashamed of something that is entirely outside of their control? "Shiro, you know that these scars don't make you any less of a hero, right?"

 

"I'm not a hero", Shiro responded quickly and matter-of-factly, "I'm just a guy that got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and had to face the consequences of that."

 

"These scars-- they're a part of you. They make you who you are. There aren't many people out there who can say that they were captured and experimented upon by the Galra  _and lived_. When the Galra forced you to fight, you were willing to put your life on the line to defend others that were stuck in the same position as you. You would die for people that you barely knew simply because it was the right thing to do."

 

Shiro didn't respond.

 

"Shiro, you would die to save people that you don't know. That's a hero in my book."

 

Shiro gave a tiny grin, and Pidge smiled back. "Besides, these scars are really cool. They make you look kinda badass."

 

Shiro chuckled. "You know, Keith said the same thing."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if any of this seemed weird or awkward. I've been dealing with writer's block lately, and my writing isn't quite what it usually is. Thanks for putting up with waiting so long for an update!

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, making the space dad suffer for the other paladins is what I do best


End file.
